Believe and Reside in Me
"Don’t just believe in Me, reside in Me….."
Meet me in the middle of my mess, my chaos and bring order, restoration, peace, joy divine.
Wreck my heart and soul with deep conviction when I fail to regularly settle into the quiet, rest of Your presence, Lord....
Day by day, I’m squeezed from all sides to accomplish what is required of me by others and what I require of myself. It can be suffocating. To the point my time with You could be squeezed out altogether. What’s the priority? How do I keep up this maddening pace? I don’t. It starts with priority #1: You, Lord! Everything else is secondary. It requires me to be okay with not being okay. It requires that I settle into regularly carving out my time alone with You, my Sabbath time with You, and walking away from what is not done. That basket of laundry can wait. Sink full of dishes, whatever. Papers and crumbs on the dining table, let it sit. Toys on the living room floor from the night before, oh well. It can all wait, it all matters not when I’ve chosen to take care of it before I sit down with my God and let Him teach me once again the powerful and healing peace that only rest in Him can bring. Funny how I have to learn this over and over again. My human condition, my incessant need to have things just right, in order, perfectly in place, has softened over the years somewhat but it still continues to be a bit of a battle. I’m sorry, Lord, that I’ve allowed any of that come between us. You are my highest Priority. And truly nothing on this earth is ever going to be in perfect order. So teach me to be at rest in Your heavenly Presence, even when my earthly domain is such a mess.
A new season is approaching, as we prepare for a new school year and some new experiences in my family I am praying God breathes a fresh breeze of motivation and inspiration into my heart. My job has hit a new level of stress and a challenging season currently, and Ryan and I continue to prayerfully consider what new opportunities God has for us in worship ministry. We are thankful and abundantly blessed by what He is doing right now, but keeping our minds and hearts open to what He is doing in the days ahead. We have been experiencing for some months now a very unsettled feeling, a restlessness in our hearts for what more God could have for us to do for the sake of His kingdom. What is interesting to me about this experience, is that it is lingering and I am finding as I lean into the Father, sense His peace beyond understanding, it is precisely where He intends for me to be. It would be easy to brainstorm and ponder all the directions He could intend for us to go, but why? It is far more important for us to be content residing in the certainty of His presence. His timing, His purpose for us is best. Trusting in Him and following Him in obedience is hard when so much is unknown, but it is worth it. I’ve found it to be true in my past, and so it will be for me in the days ahead.
I’m praying for you today, my friend. Whatever you are doing today, whatever you are facing, stop right now and tell Him, “I trust You, Jesus!” and then simply stop what you are doing or what you think you have to accomplish today, and rest in Him. Get comfortable with being undone, and invite Him into your current chaos. Recognize Him for Who He is and that You are His child. He loves you, He wants what is best for you, and sometimes it is simply to stop and rest in Him. How long has it been since you did that?
“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30, The Message translation)
Meet me in the middle of my mess, my chaos and bring order, restoration, peace, joy divine.
Wreck my heart and soul with deep conviction when I fail to regularly settle into the quiet, rest of Your presence, Lord....
Day by day, I’m squeezed from all sides to accomplish what is required of me by others and what I require of myself. It can be suffocating. To the point my time with You could be squeezed out altogether. What’s the priority? How do I keep up this maddening pace? I don’t. It starts with priority #1: You, Lord! Everything else is secondary. It requires me to be okay with not being okay. It requires that I settle into regularly carving out my time alone with You, my Sabbath time with You, and walking away from what is not done. That basket of laundry can wait. Sink full of dishes, whatever. Papers and crumbs on the dining table, let it sit. Toys on the living room floor from the night before, oh well. It can all wait, it all matters not when I’ve chosen to take care of it before I sit down with my God and let Him teach me once again the powerful and healing peace that only rest in Him can bring. Funny how I have to learn this over and over again. My human condition, my incessant need to have things just right, in order, perfectly in place, has softened over the years somewhat but it still continues to be a bit of a battle. I’m sorry, Lord, that I’ve allowed any of that come between us. You are my highest Priority. And truly nothing on this earth is ever going to be in perfect order. So teach me to be at rest in Your heavenly Presence, even when my earthly domain is such a mess.
A new season is approaching, as we prepare for a new school year and some new experiences in my family I am praying God breathes a fresh breeze of motivation and inspiration into my heart. My job has hit a new level of stress and a challenging season currently, and Ryan and I continue to prayerfully consider what new opportunities God has for us in worship ministry. We are thankful and abundantly blessed by what He is doing right now, but keeping our minds and hearts open to what He is doing in the days ahead. We have been experiencing for some months now a very unsettled feeling, a restlessness in our hearts for what more God could have for us to do for the sake of His kingdom. What is interesting to me about this experience, is that it is lingering and I am finding as I lean into the Father, sense His peace beyond understanding, it is precisely where He intends for me to be. It would be easy to brainstorm and ponder all the directions He could intend for us to go, but why? It is far more important for us to be content residing in the certainty of His presence. His timing, His purpose for us is best. Trusting in Him and following Him in obedience is hard when so much is unknown, but it is worth it. I’ve found it to be true in my past, and so it will be for me in the days ahead.
I’m praying for you today, my friend. Whatever you are doing today, whatever you are facing, stop right now and tell Him, “I trust You, Jesus!” and then simply stop what you are doing or what you think you have to accomplish today, and rest in Him. Get comfortable with being undone, and invite Him into your current chaos. Recognize Him for Who He is and that You are His child. He loves you, He wants what is best for you, and sometimes it is simply to stop and rest in Him. How long has it been since you did that?
“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30, The Message translation)
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